Education IV.

I think that with this post, I will stop writing anything more on this subject unless something else triggers a new thought process.

In my blog post Education II, Pravin commented as: “What is the purpose of education? It is not to get the JOB… as yours only has an MBA 🙂 all B-school talk about their placement! The purpose is to enhance students analytical, creative skills et al. When that happens automatically people would understand what they are being fed with is at times nothing more than garbage. Even the idea of “Education is under attack” would be analytically weighed by “educated” people :).”

I had responded:
“Well said Pravin.”

But, Pravin being Pravin and I being I, the matter will not rest there till I elaborate for Pravin who, to use Maxi‘s words, keeps me on my toes. So, I went to my library to find the one quote that I wanted to share with Pravin which is so good that I want to share with all my readers.

“Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man. Education is not the amount of information that is put into your brain and runs riot there, undigested all your life. We must have life-building, man-making, character-making, assimilation of ideas. If you have assimilated five ideas and made them your life and character, you have more education than any man who has got by heart a whole library. The ass carrying its load of sandalwood knows only the weight and not the value of the sandalwood. If education is identical with information, the libraries are the greatest sages in the world, and the encyclopedias are the Rishis.”
~ Swami Vivekananda.

Those who are fearful, tortured by the past, too tired to go on, hide.
Behind a degree, behind expertise, behind money, family power, technical toys, or politics.
Those who aren’t fearful,tortured, or tired, have worked hard, and are still working, to explore and expand their talent. Such people know everyone has a gift. An area of expertise. They respect it, and the hard work put into developing it, although it is not theirs. If you go to such a person, in respect, you learn. About their talent, and about their lives, and life in general. As they will surely learn from you through the questions you ask. Or when they need a medical advisor, their car fixed, a tax consultant, an astronomer, or a musician who sings sacred songs.

All the education and book learning is a waste, unless it is used for, and shared with others, without preaching or boasting about qualifications. Not all gifts come from books!Grannymar recently posted..Sex Education

Education is under attack for a number of reasons. I agree with Pravin’s assertion that the (ideal) purpose of education is to develop and enhance students’ analytical and creative skills. But in the U.S., it may be that we have long undervalued skilled (but only basically educated) labor, and overvalued the university degree, to the point where we have a glut of students demanding entrance to the university – we’ve created a weird supply and demand situation that makes a degree a very costly requirement even to land a job as a garbage collector. People who might prefer working with their hands in a trade that requires a vocational apprenticeship are made to feel stupid if they are smart enough – though perhaps not inclined or financially able – to attend college but choose not to.

Now we have parents competing to get their little precious into grade school that costs more than grad school. Teachers aren’t sufficiently well paid for the nonsense they must put up with in the public schools – most of which are not academically poor, but are overcrowded and overrun by kids and parents with an unhealthy degree of competitiveness and a sense of entitlement – or a great deal of worry that those who can pay will always get a good education, while it remains out of reach for so many. I don’t have to tell you this. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31998343

We laugh and are appalled, but there are parents here, every night, who do little Johnny’s homework for him and think the teachers don’t notice…Holly Jahangiri recently posted..5 Day Black & White Challenge (Day 2)